Welcome to Truth Matters Church at truthmatterschurch.org. Today, we pick up in part two of The Great Statue, looking at how Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream has end times implications, especially as we aim to accurately exposit revelation. We encourage you to follow along in your Bible, and if you'd like to download a copy of the handout notes and maps, visit truthmatterschurch.org. Here is Pastor Alex. Okay, we will be picking up our study on the vision or dream that Nebuchadnezzar had of the great statue. And just a brief reminder of where we are in our study. For those of us who were here last week, we did do an historical background leading to the setting of the Book of Daniel. And the short of it is, by the time Daniel was taken into captivity, Prior to Judah, we had the Northern Kingdom taken into captivity. So by the time we get to Daniel, both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom have been taken into captivity. And as we covered last week, Daniel was taken as part of the Babylonian captivity in the first wave, and that would place it right around 606. And when we started to say, okay, this is how we're going to approach our study in this mini series of Daniel, what we talked about was we're gonna focus on the visions and dreams that have end times implications because the book of Revelation is a study of end times. So that means that we're gonna continue to cover an endeavor to finish covering Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great statue and what was that all about. And then from there, we're going to study on the four beasts and just a little disclaimer on the four beasts. That one is pretty heavy. And that one, there's a lot of different interpretations of it, and I'm gonna try my best with God's help, with the scripture as our guide, to keep us from the madness about who these four beasts are. And then we'll also look at the ram and the goat, this little horn that Daniel sees and was given insight to, the 70 weeks and Messiah, and that would include also the sealing of this book. Also just a brief reminder of right when we're going to pick up right where we left off from last week. So King Nebuchadnezzar, when he was ruler or king of the world, he was the world power at that time. God gave, pretty much gave him the power of the kingdom of the earth. and he was in power, well, one night he had a dream and he saw this great statue and it terrified him. And he made an impossible request to the magicians, the conjurers, those who practice sorcery, and he pretty much gave him, he made an impossible request. He said, tell me what I dreamed. so that I can know that you can give me its interpretation." It rattled him so much, he didn't want to take any chances that they were going to just blow smoke in his face. And it was an impossible ask, and the Chaldeans, the magicians, the sorcerers, they came back and saying, no king has ever asked this. So he got really upset, and he gave an order to have them all killed. That's how motivated he was to get the answer to what that dream and that vision meant. Well, Daniel catches wind of this, and the order is given to kill all of the wise men, and that would include Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So he asked the captain guard, hey, why did he give this such an order? Why is it so urgent? Why is he ordering for the wise men to be killed? And he found out. So he told him what it was. He wants someone to tell him the dream so that he knows that they can give him the interpretation. So Daniel and his three friends, he said, okay, ask the king for time. So the four of them went into prayer and asked the God of Israel for mercy and supplication saying, Lord, you know, be pleased to spare them. Well, guess what? God answered and God gave Daniel the dream and its interpretation. So then Daniel prays God, saying, you know, thanking Him for His mercy and His grace, which endures forever, and His love and His faithfulness for the people of Israel. So then he goes before the king, and he tells them. He ends up telling him. But if you read, and I'm kind of fast-forwarding through a lot of this, you know, Daniel, he made it clear to the king that no wise man, no magician, no conjurer, no Chaldean, no one who practices sorcery. And Daniel himself can tell you what the dream is, but he goes, but there is a God in heaven who's a revealer of mysteries. And he has given you a dream to let you know what's gonna happen after you. So then he goes on to tell him. And then in this dream, as we've covered, there was this great statue. And there was a head of gold, there was chest arms of silver, there was belly thighs of bronze, there was legs of iron, and then there was feet toes that were partly iron and partly clay. And what we covered last week is what I would consider the black and white ones in scripture. This is irrefutable. If you find yourself not accepting this, you're not accepting the scripture and history. they come together on this. And what we came away with was, you know, Daniel was given the interpretation of the statue and he says, you know, you, you remember you Nebuchadnezzar are the head of gold. And that would be the Babylonian empire. And they ruled from about 606 BC to 538 BC. And then as we continued to look into, we're letting Daniel give us the interpretation. Daniel then gives the interpretation that the silver or, you know, the chest and the arms of silver, he's saying, it's going to be the kingdom who's going to take over you, who's going to conquer you. And that would be the Medo-Persian empire. and that they ruled from about 538 B.C. to 331 B.C. This is irrefutable. Daniel's giving us the interpretation, and history confirms it. So this is, right now, black and white, straightforward, what was given to us in scripture. And then when it got to the belly, thighs of bronze, okay, who's going to conquer the Medo-Persians? It's this belly and thighs of bronze, and it turned out to be the Grecian Empire. And, you know, we're all familiar with Alexander the Great. And this is where that empire would fall within the time of Alexander the Great. And Daniel tells us that it'll be this third empire that would follow. They would be the Grecian Empire, and they ruled from about 331 BC to 63 BC. And then Daniel gives us this fourth empire. And it was this legs of iron. And what we came away with there was it's the Roman Empire who ended up being the world power after the Greek Macedonian Empire, and that would be the Roman Empire. And the way I marked this was who was the first Caesar and who was the last Caesar of a unified Rome. And that would cover 31 BC to 476 AD. That was a pretty good run. that the Roman Empire had, but they were the legs of iron. This is black and white. Daniel gave it to us. History verifies it. We can't contest it. And where we last left off was, okay, in Daniel's vision, there was this feet of this statue that was feet of toes that were partly iron and partly clay. The question was, okay, what does that represent? And that's where it kind of left you on a cliffhanger. And we're going to pick up from here. I do want to acknowledge that this one isn't black and white, not like the other ones. Don't you wish all the scripture is black and white? But for whatever reason, God decided this is one of those more of these treasures, scavenger hunts that we're going to endeavor to do. And as I mentioned before, in one of our rules of engagement, I'm gonna try to stay as close to the scripture as possible and not let it go all over the place. That will be our goal. So we're gonna say, okay, what are the feet and toes that are partly iron and partly clay? And we'll get through that shortly. But to find out, let's reread Daniel's prophecy. And what we're gonna do, and you're gonna find, we're gonna go back to it again, and we're gonna go back to it again. And just so you know, that helps me. I just listen over and over and over and over. Just when you think you had enough, I keep listening to it because you'll be surprised how much sometimes something would stick when it didn't all of the other times. So we're going to, you're going to find, there's going to be a common practice where we're going to revisit the same text to take that next step to move forward so that we can get to the bottom of it all, and that is truth, and what has God revealed. So let's go back to Daniel 2. We'll begin in verse 41, and we're gonna try to answer what are this, what is this feat and toes that are partly iron and partly clay. So that's what we're going to try to see what Daniel tells us. In that you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron. Here's our first description. It'll be a divided kingdom. but it'll have the toughness of iron in as much as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another even as iron does not combine with pottery. So here we have feet and toes are likened to partly clay and partly iron, and that it'll be a divided kingdom. So we got that. Here's where it starts to get all over the place. Okay, wait, it's a divided kingdom. Okay, that can mean a lot of different things, right? So here's a couple of things that we need to keep in mind. He says it will be. So this is, again, he's prophesying. He's looking ahead. He's looking in the night vision. It will be a divided kingdom and divided as if the scriptures wasn't complicated enough with two languages. As we know, the New Testament was written in Greek and the majority of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. Oh, but by the way, Daniel chapters two through seven, you know, within that range is written in Aramaic. You throw a third language in there, you gotta be kidding me. And there's not many Aramaic resources out there, at least that I've come across. So I'm trying my best also to keep that into consideration and not go too far off to the right or to the left. But just know that this divided in the Aramaic was transliterated to the root word, the root Hebrew word, peleg, which means to split or divide. That's what divided kingdom means, to split or divide. It doesn't mean, because we say, oh, it's a divided kingdom. Oh, you're at odds with one another. Like, you know, the United States of America, you guys are divided. There's division. That's not what it means here when it says this is a divided kingdom. The divided means to split or divide. So it means, it really means in terms here of dividing, it's really parceling out the earth. Dividing the earth. And we see an example of that in 1 Chronicles 1 verse 19, and this was concerning the lineage of Shem. It says there, two sons were born to Eber, the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, the earth was Peleg, and his brother's name was Jocton. So when it says it'll be a divided kingdom, just keep in mind that the earth is going to be parceled out and split up. That's what the vision tells us. That's what this prophecy means. It'll be a divided kingdom. So now we're like, okay, so what nations or empires or powers will make up this divided kingdom? It's going to get all over the place. I'm telling you right now, if you open up your commentary, it's going to be all over the place. But why do we go through all of the rules of engagement? Because we have to use Scripture with Scripture, not just with your lips. Let me call out some of the things that are out there. This is what you're going to read when you open up a commentary. They're going to say it's a revived Roman Empire. That's the common one. That's very prevalent in, you can say, modern day, in the evangelical realm especially. It's more contemporary. It's a revived Roman empire. In fact, when you read your Bibles, it'll give you Babylon, Medo-Persia, Rome, divided kingdom. It'll even say a revived Rome in some cases. So there's a lot, people have put in their subjectivity even in your translation of the Bible. But a lot will say it's a revived Roman Empire. That's what this divided kingdom is because when you follow Rome and their history, they did end up being split up into the Western and Eastern power. And then from there, there was a lot of wars and conquering and being taken over, and they continued to be divided and parceled out. So a lot of commentaries, well, that must be it. So this later must be a divided kingdom of the Roman Empire. Also, some will teach and say, oh, it's the Roman Catholic Church. The feet of partly iron and partly clay, it's the Roman Catholic Church, this divided kingdom. Or some will say it's a combination of the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church, it's both. Here is a more new one. I would say this is more recent. Some will say it's a revived Ottoman Empire. And if you follow history, and this is from the time of Muhammad around, I want to say 600 AD, that following him came to life or came to power this Ottoman Empire, the Islamic Caliphate. And it's where you start to get, you know, they were in power. But after World War I, that's when they were done, pretty much. But some will say, okay, so this divided kingdom that Daniel sees of partly iron and partly clay, it's the Islamic caliphate. It's out there. And there are others. These are just some highlights. These are the high, I would say these are the more common ones. So which one is right? Which direction do we go? Trick question. Scripture. Remember rules of engagement, must be able to defend interpretation. If you're saying the feet and toes that are partly iron and partly clay, take the scripture to back that up, to saying that this is what the scripture tells us what it is, not what you think it is, or not what world events that transpired from the time of this prophecy throughout history. You're reading world events and you're trying to make it fit. And to prophecy versus, no, you let scripture tell the story and see where the world events fall. That's the right way to view prophecy. So we're gonna go with scripture. So let's read it again. Daniel says, in the days of those kings, I have that underline bolded, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people. It'll crush and put an end to all of these kingdoms. but it will itself endure forever. And as much as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands that crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future. So the dream is true. and its interpretation trustworthy. Here's what I want us to glean from us just rereading this. It says, in the days of those kings, God will establish Messiah's kingdom. So, right there, naturally, when is Messiah's kingdom going to be established? towards the end. So the days of those kings, Messiah is going to establish his kingdom, points us towards the end. So this is prophecy concerning the fall of those world powers at the end times. Did you get that? In the days of those kings, in this vision that Daniel just saw the feet of partly iron and toes of partly iron and partly clay, when he gives us the interpretation He is connecting that partly iron and partly clay, at least right after that, and he's connecting it to when Messiah is gonna set up his kingdom. He's saying in the days of those kings. So that doesn't mean in the days of the kings really close to Daniel, it's actually more towards the end. So this partly iron and partly clay is concerning world powers at the end times. So here's an interpretive challenge. We're like, okay, regarding those kings. Which kings is he talking about? In the immediate context, those kings are the divided kingdom. He was just talking from head to toe, literally, and then he gives the interpretation and says, in the days of those kings, Messiah's kingdom. So in the immediate context, those kings are the divided kingdom. It's the feet of partly iron and partly clay. Now when it gets to prophecy, as we know, it looks ahead. There's this, call it prophetic undertones. Okay, yeah, in context, those kings are divided kingdom, but all in all, from a prophecy standpoint, those kings are all kingdoms who are here towards the end of time in the great statue vision. So what I mean is this. So we know the head of gold is the Babylonian Empire. The chest arms of silver is the Medo-Persian Empire. The belly, thighs of bronze is the Grecian Empire. The legs of iron is the Roman Empire. And we're still getting to this one piece. Okay, what are the feet and toes? Partly iron and partly clay. So here's what I'm proposing to us here. It's both. What I mean is this. Those kings that is in this vision, is the divided kingdom, but it's also all the kingdoms of the rest of the statue. And we're going to get there and we're going to see why that is the case. We're going to consider that the great statue, not just the feet and toes, It's the whole thing of the world powers that are gonna be there at the end when Messiah sets his kingdom. It's the whole thing, not just the feet and toes. So we're gonna approach this because that's where the vision is taking us. We can't eliminate one or the other, it's both. So then we're like, okay, we're gonna endeavor to say, okay, who will make up the world powers in the vision that'll be in play at the end times? Because then that'll tell us who this divided kingdom will be. Here is what we, remember I was saying we must use scripture? So we're gonna stick with that. We're gonna use scripture to define the empires implicated in prophecy by keeping their designations. So what I mean is, you know, gold is Babylon, silver is Medo-Persia, bronze is Greece, iron is Rome, and then we're gonna find out who this clay is. we're gonna stay true to what the ancient text, if they gave someone or a people or a nation a designation, we're going to stay with that because that's what the scripture gives us. Because if we don't let the scripture tell us who these empires could be by what it's given in this vision, you're gonna be all over the map, just like what I was mentioning earlier. And I don't wanna continue the madness, to be frank. So, we're gonna say, okay, who are the, our goal is now, okay, looking at the great statue in this vision and letting the scripture tell us who that ancient people was, we're gonna try to find out where are they today? Because this great statue is gonna be representative of the world powers that it's gonna be a divided kingdom towards the end of time when Messiah sets his kingdom. So who's in play? That's what we're gonna do right now. Who's in play? Who's in play to be part of the divided kingdom? So let's start with the head of gold. You know, the head of gold, and here's a map here. And just so you know, this is only as good as the resource, so if this map might be off, there's nothing that we can really do about it, but at least we have a geographic idea and location of where you know, a certain empire ruled. So in this map, the Babylonian Empire, you see this map here in the dark orange. That was pretty much when Nebuchadnezzar was king of the earth. and the superpower of the earth, and you're to say, okay, where, how far did his kingdom go? This would be a good idea. So you know what that would make up today? Because the ancient Babylonian empire was part of that statue, even though they got taken over, they're still a part of the statue. And this vision, they're still part of the kings that will be in play at the end times. You know who they are today? Turkey. Iraq, Syria. Here's a popular one. Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Iran. And here's a wild card depending on the accuracy of this map. Saudi Arabia is a wild card. You can't rule them out. If part of King Nebuchadnezzar's empire covered where Saudi Arabia is today, then they would be in play. Otherwise they're not. but the head of gold or the Babylonian empire consists of these countries. So these countries are in play to be part of the divided kingdom at the end. Who else is in play in the statue? The breast arms of silver, ancient Medo Persian empire. So here's a map of the Persian empire. They pretty much didn't expand too much when they took over and conquered Babylon. But there is one country that we're all familiar with here. Who are they present day? Who are, you know, we're Medo-Persia conquered and they're part of the statue and they're in play at the, you know, of this great statue of the world powers at the end. Who's in play? It's the same Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Iran. Here's one. Afghanistan Interesting Pakistan and here's a wild card depending on the accuracy of the Persian Empire and that this map is indicative of it So if the Persian Empire also conquered or you know their kingdom included India today, then India would be in play too and But they're a wild card, I'm not sure, based on at least this resource. Interesting how the withdrawal of Afghanistan is one of a domino of prophecy. And it implicates ancient Medo-Persian empire, who's part of this great statue vision. So what's happening in the world is to get to that point where we're going to have this world power, this divided kingdom at the end, and Afghanistan is in play. So the Taliban are in play. We can't rule them out right now. We can't rule them out right now because they're part of ancient Medo-Persian empire and part of this vision. Who else is in play? Who could be part of this divided kingdom in which Messiah will crush when he sets up his kingdom? Let's look at the belly thighs of bronze in the statue, the Greco Macedonian empire. Here's who they are present day. Greece, Turkey, again, Turkey comes up a lot. And as we'll see when we get into the rams and goats judgment, they are one of the beasts. Israel, Iraq again, Iran, and Egypt. So really, we just kind of put Greece is now in play, who could be part of this divided kingdom that Daniel sees in his vision. Legs of iron. Here's a map of the Roman Empire. We know that the legs of iron is Roman Empire. You can't refute that or you're refuting scripture and history. Well, here's a map that tries to depict, okay, where did Rome, how far did their kingdom go? It was pretty impressive actually. It's far more than the others. But in a nutshell, these countries are in play that could be part possibly of this divided kingdom in Daniel's vision or Nebuchadnezzar's vision that Daniel was given insight and interpretation. Britain, Spain, Italy, Rome. So could Rome or Roman Catholicism, depending on their power, be in play? You can't rule them out. Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Syria, Israel, Egypt. And what's interesting is if you were to put this all together, and I just kind of did a crash course on World War I, World War II, and kind of what happened, you know, kind of the short of it. But what's interesting is this statue and these countries implicated were the countries at least primarily involved in World War I and World War II, and then other countries ended up getting involved. So could World War I and World War II kind of be dress rehearsals for that which is to come? Seems a lot of main countries and players are in play. But obviously that's not the divided kingdom at the end that Messiah will set up his kingdom and that will crush. That's not them. Although we know that those responsible for the war, like let's say Hitler, for example, didn't accomplish his mission. Now, finally, I'm like, okay, the partly iron and partly clay, what do we make of this? Remember, you must use and defend from scripture. Here's what I'm gonna say. Iron, which was legs, in this vision, we know that iron was the Roman Empire. So when it comes to the partly iron and partly clay of the feet and the toes, at least for me, I'm not gonna deviate and saying, well, the partly iron is another empire. No, the partly iron would implicate the Roman, ancient Roman Empire. What I mean is, if you're gonna say, well, Rome, the legs of iron is Rome, but the partly iron is something else, the caliphate, for example, what leg are you standing on with scripture? But if you say, well, iron was associated with Rome, then the legs is Rome, the legs of iron, and the partly iron part of the feet and toes would implicate the ancient Roman Empire. That's where, that's the scripture defying that, not me. So I'm compelled not to say that the partly iron in the feet and toes is anything but the Roman Empire. But that there's this new player now, clay. Well, who is likened to clay in scripture? Isaiah 64, 8. But now, oh Lord, you are our father. We, and that's speaking of the house of Israel, are the clay. And you are our potter, and all of us are the work of your hand. The only specific nation that is likened to clay in scripture, there's clay in a general sense, but when we're talking about a nation or a power or a people, Clay is associated with the house of Israel. So in this vision, this partly clay implicates the house of Israel. Now, which house of Israel? Was it the house of Israel, the northern kingdom? Or the house of Judah, the southern kingdom, and that's why we went through a lot of the setting and the historical backgrounds. It's the northern kingdom. They're the house of Israel because they're the house of Judah. There's a northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. So the house of Israel in the clay is likened to the house of Israel, and that is the northern kingdom. So where are they? Where are they? So here's a map that has the allotment that was given to the 12 tribes. It was all parceled out. What I tried to input here is, okay, what are the modern day countries that pretty much implicate the northern kingdom of Israel? Because the northern kingdom is pretty much all of Israel except the southern part of Judah, because that was the southern kingdom. which means that the House of Israel or the Northern Kingdom, like what countries are implicated or what countries pretty much is part of or was part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel before? Of course, it's what we know as Israel today. Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Here's another important question. Is the Great Statue Vision a chronological prophecy of world powers from beginning from head to toe? So let me go back to a prior slide. See this one? See how it kind of flowed? You had the Babylonian Empire, then you had the Medo-Persian, then you had the Grecian Empire, and then you had the Roman Empire. Was it really intended to be, okay, here's the last empire, because Rome is done. Well, I kind of tipped my hat, but let's go back. We're gonna go back to the scripture, but just know that a lot of prophecy teachers advocate this. A lot of Bible teachers will say, yeah, it goes in that order. There was the first kingdom, second kingdom, third kingdom, fourth kingdom, then there's this fifth kingdom. That'll be the divided kingdom, and in that order. But what does the scripture say? Guess what, we're gonna go back. Let's relook again at Daniel's interpretation. Daniel 2, 31-35, remember he says, The head of the statue was made of fine gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out with hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed." See this, have this underlined? Them. Who are them? What did this stone that wasn't cut without hands that struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them? Who are them? Then the iron, that's the Roman empire, the clay, the House of Israel, the bronze, the Greco-Macedonian Empire, the silver, the Medes and Persian Empire, and the gold, the Babylonian Empire, were crushed all at the same time. We gotta get that. All at the same time. So if there's teaching out there that says, okay, Babylon is done, Medo-Persia is done, Greece is done, The Roman Empire is done, and now there's this other divided kingdom. Well, the scripture says, then the iron, which we deduced was the Roman Empire, the clay, the house of Israel, the bronze, the Greco-Macedonian Empire, the silver, the Medes and Persians Empire, and the gold, the Babylonian Empire, were crushed by that rock. all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them was found, but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and Messiah's kingdom, and became a great mountain, and, it's talking about Messiah's kingdom, filled the whole earth. Doesn't sound like the statue vision was just like, okay, head, arms, chest, belly, thighs, iron is now done and now we're just focused on the feet. No, it's all of them that Messiah will crush and his kingdom will fill the whole earth. Let's keep going. Let's re-look at Daniel 2.44 again. In the days of those kings, now, this is the world rulers at the end times, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that, Messiah's kingdom, will not be left for another people. It, Messiah's kingdom, will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms. Those are all the world rulers at the end times. But it, Messiah's kingdom, will itself endure forever. And as much as you saw a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and it crushed the iron, Roman Empire, the bronze, the Greco-Macedonian Empire, the clay, the house of Israel, the silver, the Medes and Persian Empire, and the gold, the Babylonian Empire, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future, and that is up to and including the establishment of Messiah's kingdom. So the dream is true, and its interpretation, trust. Here's the case in point. Let's kind of start to sum this all up now. The last world empire in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the great statue, it's not just limited to just the feet and toes. A lot of teachings out there, that's the popular opinion, partly of iron, partly of clay. We just saw Messiah will destroy all of them at the same time. They have to be around to be destroyed. So although the great statue did depict the world powers who were to follow Babylon in succession, the vision of the great statue, it was a prophecy picture of the final world powers at the end times consisting of different nations. Here's a hint. This is the mystery Babylon that John saw in his vision in the book of Revelation. It's gonna consist of a combination of these present-day countries. I did all that to show you this picture, because the picture says a thousand words. But at least you know how I got here. Try to use Scripture, stay with Scripture. Scripture defined the rules. We're following by the rules that are given to us by Scripture. Here's where I'm getting at. I took all of the empires. I took, okay, the Babylonian, the Persian, the Greco-Macedonian, or Macedonian, the Roman Empire, And remember I said, okay, where are they presently? Because they're part of this, these empires make up the whole statue. So here are the countries that we can't rule out, that will make up this divided kingdom, this world power at the end when Messiah crushes them. We can't eliminate them. Afghanistan, Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel. Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and that's the Middle Eastern countries that are in play. Who's in play to make up this divided kingdom world power at the end? France, Great Britain, Greece. We can't eliminate Italy or Rome. You can't eliminate the Roman Catholic Church if they are in fact in power. We can't eliminate Italy or Rome, and we can't eliminate Spain. Who else might be implicated? Wild cards, India and Saudi Arabia. They're kind of wild cards, we can't rule them out. But those kings, see that? I tried my best. Those kings. which make up of all that, Messiah will crush at the end and establish his kingdom. And as we're gonna see when we get to the other visions, we're gonna get more insight on more of the world superpowers at the end of time. Here are some observations. I don't know if you guys thought about this. Do you notice United States is not in play? China is not in play. Russia is not in play. I just want to call that out. According to these empires that represent this statue and the nations therein, US isn't part of it. China isn't part of it. Russia. Those are the big ones. Now, can partly play in the vision of Daniel. Can it include, somehow, go apart from it? I suppose it could, because scripture does liken mankind as a dwelling in houses of clay, and here I'll use a Job reference, Job 4, 17 through 19. Job writes there, or says there, can mankind be just before God? Can a man be pure before his maker? He puts no trust even in his servants, and against his angels he charges error. How much more than those who dwell in the houses of clay, whose foundation is the dust, who are crushed before the moth. But here's what I want to suggest to you. Houses of clay is quite different from being called clay and associating a nation or a power, whereas the house of Israel is explicitly called clay in the potter's hand. So, I'm pulled towards, no, the clay, although when it says the seed of men and the clay, the common clay, you know, merge with this partly iron, could that be other nations like the U.S.? It's possible, but I would say unlikely. if we were to stick with scripture to say, OK, well, we want we don't want the what ifs. And I don't think also to some extent God doesn't give us reveal all mysteries to some extent. But also in prophecy, he does give us his word so that we know when the prophecy is fulfilled. So sometimes he will give us the detail. And when it comes to the partly clay, at least I'm pulled to say no, that wasn't intended to be necessarily open for subjectivity, whereas the house of clay, or associating it to the nation Israel, who is explicitly called clay. I want to be careful when I make this comment. Because I know we are in a unique time in history, but I can't help but be pessimistic about the destiny of this nation. Because of this divided kingdom, this world power at the end, and we were to stick with the nations implicated where they represent today, it's nowhere to be found on the Western world. Now, I'm not going to speculate. But just know that this prophecy, and if the United States has been the superpower of the world, you can call us the guardian of the world. for pretty much all of our existence and now we're not and now we're leaving countries to fend for themselves and now all of a sudden we aren't doing as a nation and as a people as we've done before not to mention The liberties, our constitution, I would say the intensity of the attack of this great country is probably the most it's ever been. So I wanna say this. I know, at least through examples in scripture, sometimes God prophesies through wicked rulers. He prophesied through a pagan prophet. He prophesied in a donkey. through a donkey. He prophesied through the high priest of Israel that year that killed and that recommended that Messiah, Jesus, be killed, and He was not saved. And yet he says, it is expedient for one man to die than for the whole nation to perish. God prophesied through a pagan, he's pagan even though he was the high priest that year, person. So is it possible that when our former president says that this is the most important election in all of history and that if we were to go the way it went, that the America or the United States we know today won't be there? I don't think that is by coincidence. I don't see the United States in the prophecies of the world powers at the end. So now the question is, well, how? How can we, as this powerful nation, how can we be destroyed from within? Okay, how? What are some ways? Well, maybe, and this is just a maybe, this isn't gospel, but maybe the pandemic is just a precursor of the demise of our nation. It's not gonna stop here. This erosion will continue. And I see that because of this prophecy. It's like, well, how are we not gonna be there at the end? How is that even possible? Because we're not gonna be the same country that we were used to. And it used to terrify me, I would get wrapped up in it, but thank God for his word. I'm thankful that this nation is gonna go down if it is, or other nations or powers are gonna be put down, because it just gets us a step closer for this final divided kingdom to come into play, and the Messiah will crush all those kings. So I'm like, oh wow, okay, so I'm not going to put my hope in man or in nation or in country. And actually, when you follow the story of Daniel, you're like, wait, Follow Daniel and his three friends. Just follow their life. They were taken in Babylonian captivity, and much of their people have been slaughtered and taken into captivity. They died with pestilence and plagues, and some of them were for sport, were killed by wild beasts. But do you sense any grumbling from Daniel? Any privilege from Daniel? No. He continued to pray to his God three times a day. He continued to trust and have faith even though he was a captive. under the power of Babylon, and then he also served under the Medes and Persians. He continued to be faithful to his God, even when faced with being thrown in a lion's den for not bowing to the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar erected. So that's instructive for us. Regardless of what's going on in the world, whether we have liberties or not, Daniel's liberties got taken away. Trust your God. Don't renounce and reject your God, and he will reward you, amen? So as we continue with Daniel's visions, and we are getting up on time, what we're gonna find is we continue on this journey Next is the four beasts. We're gonna get more insight on this end times, I call them a superpower, this is the super empire. The greatest empire that has ever existed and will ever exist, lest the kingdom of Christ. And we're gonna see it's gonna be made up of 10 kings, and that's gonna be the greatest and strongest empire of all time. And it is out of this final superpower, empire, that Antichrist will finally arrive in the scene. And we've narrowed down the countries that are in play based on ancient geographic locations. So these 10 kings, who can they be? Well, continue to stick with us and continue our mini series. And we're gonna look at the visions and interpretations of Daniels to see what we can find out, amen? Thank you so much for listening today to the Truth Matters Church podcast. Some very sobering thoughts in today's study. For many of us, it can be very hard to imagine such a dramatic change to our country and to our world. But as we study Scripture and look ahead to Christ's return, we can see that things are not going to be as they've always been. So for now, each of us should prepare our hearts and minds to stand firmly in our faith, no matter how difficult or painful it may become. God has given us this day, today, to draw closer to Him and to strengthen our faith. If you're in Northern California, we would love to have you join us in person for our study on Friday nights. Details are at our website, truthmatterschurch.org. That's truthmatterschurch.org. Contending for the faith, one verse at a time. This is Truth Matters Church.